We live in an age that has seen dramatic change in how the Christian message is spread. Or, perhaps, in how it is not spread. Many of the biggest stories today, in the news media or in Christian circles, have to do with negatives. We are confronted with “the New Atheism.” We hear disconcerting statistics [...]
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Comments on John R. Erickson from those who know him
George Clay: On the college student seminars held at the Ericksons’ ranch: “For the second year in a row he held this writing camp. What the college kids want to know is, ‘What is the ABC for being a good writer?’ They want a one-two-three. An outline. And John will just have a smile on [...]
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Real Ranch, Real Rancher: John R. Erickson
To most who are familiar with the tabletop flatness of much of the Texas panhandle, the ruggedness of the Canadian River Valley would seem a departure. This decidedly un-panhandle-like terrain is home to John and Kris Erickson and their M-Cross Ranch, aka the “Ranch that Hank Built.” Situation some 30 miles outside Perryton, occupying some [...]
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Inside Hank the Cowdog
John R. Erickson, author of the Hank the Cowdog series, includes among his many talents the ability to take you inside the mind of a dog—which, oddly, is a kinda-bizarre-kinda-sane place to be. And he is a master of the running gag. In each of the stories, there is always some doggy quirkishness going on. For [...]
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John R. Erickson on Popular Culture
John R. Erickson, in Story Craft: “I am alarmed by the slide of American popular culture toward things that are coarse, ugly, violent, self-directed, obscene, profane, visual, and non-rational, and by a parallel development that we might call the ‘Santa-Clausation’ of culture—the detachment of an event (the birth of Christ) or a creative endeavor (books, [...]
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It Just Gets Better
There you go… you’re in! And I’m glad. Thanks for being an active reader of Something Solid. You’ll find all the same links here that you saw highlighted on the e-newsletter itself. When you clicked on the “Editor’s Notes” link, you were whisked to this website, where all the stories “live.” This particular webpage just [...]
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Only in Texas: Chicken-fried Bacon
It’s called “chicken-fried bacon.” As someone once described it, “They’ve taken fat, they’ve double-coated it in fat, they’ve fried it in more fat, and then they’ve served it with a side order of fat.” And, so, when I found this dish on the menu at a restaurant (Catfish Corner) here in my hometown of Abilene, [...]
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Nature’s Amazing Ways
Not many people know this about me, but I am such a nature lover – and always have been – that I pursued and obtained a degree in Wildlife Ecology for my Bachelor’s. I was blessed to be raised on a country place (60 acres) that had about every ecosystem one could expect to encounter [...]
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Tags: antidote, black snake, Eliot Wigginton, fight, Foxfire, Frank Eaton, Pistol Pete, rattlesnake, tarantula, toad
God
In a world where the mere mention of God in a public setting or context can draw more concern and dismay than any number of profane messages, we must stop and ask ourselves what has happened to steer things so far down so many undesirable paths. Abraham Lincoln wrote, “It is announced in scripture, and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.” Proven by all history. A nation that is not God-centered cannot but lose not just its morals but its intelligence. It’s already happening. The God of Abraham Lincoln was a God who did not bless by serendipitously dropping providential gifts into the laps of the blessed. He blessed by raising the intellect. This generation will decide. We can choose darkness or we can choose light. CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.
God
Quips and Quotes
First my own sayings. Then some of the greats'. I know better than to FOLLOW those acts! :-) |||| The only populations who inflict torture on members for “ratting” are prison inmates and schoolchildren. |||| Any gener- ation’s so-called generational values are nothing more than watered-down versions of their parents’, slowly getting cooked up into half-baked versions of their offspring’s. |||| To be called “spry.” Should it be taken as a compliment? |||| Have you ever noticed, in those situations when you really need to take a deep breath and let it out, how, after you’ve taken the deep breath and let it out, the thing that was bothering you is still there? |||| Today's romance-minded gal must kiss a lot of frogs before she finds her crazy coot. |||| CLICK IMAGE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.
Country
When the time comes, this space will be given to socio-political themes. For starters, though, just a traipse through the heartland as I share "souvenirs" of a cowboy journalist… |||| Does the Lord love a cowboy? Well, we know this much: when His Son was born, herdsmen were the first folks He sought out to tell the good news. |||| Most every young fellow has looked into the mirror at one time or another and saw, or hoped he saw, a Western movie hero looking back at him. But what’s a guy to think when, some ways down the trail, he looks into the mirror and sees a sidekick looking back? |||| Does Congeniality outrank Cordiality on the Roll Call of Virtues? And if Consistency is a minor virtue, where does that put mere Punctuality? |||| First you eat it all up. Then you’re all eat up with it. |||| CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.